Lamentations of a Disillusioned Vyrewatch
by TastyBurger
Summary: The Vyrewatch is supposed to be made of only the finest and most unquestioningly loyal of vampyres in the eyes of the Drakan regime. But one former member holds a different perspective; not only of the Vyrewatch, but of vampyric society in Morytania as a whole. Critical, she wrote down her views and ideas to improve it - the lamentations of a disillusioned Vyrewatch.


The Vyrewatch: the elite vampyric guardians of Morytania. Nearly every vampyre looked up to them with envy, willing to sacrifice much just to be included within its prestigious ranks. Such a rank commanded authority and respect, and proven loyalty to the Drakans was always to be handsomely rewarded. Sure, the "meat sacks" hated us, but it wasn't our fault that they were too weak to resist our rule. Even the Myreque, one of the few groups that dared to resist us, was powerless before our might! We considered them little more than delusional cowards, hiding themselves away while their own kind were ripe for the tithing. Well, perhaps "ripe" is the wrong word in this case, for the exhausted and terrified faces of the colorless masses beneath our rule continue to haunt me to this day.

My name is Lady Isoh, or at least it was at one point. By the time of these memoirs, I have resigned (and by that I mean I more or less deserted) from the Vyrewatch for about three years. Since that time, I have lived a mostly happier lifestyle. True, I gave up what vampyric society dictated should have been a glorious and enviable life for that of a pariah, but such a choice has allowed me to at least sleep without dreading my tasks the following day, of the haunting sounds of wailing mothers losing children and the chilling pleas for death from the suffering crowds. I do harbor major regrets, however; while it probably does not do to dwell too much on what could not be changed, I do often reflect on them, and I doubt I will ever fully make peace with my past. After all, I was once dutiful, serving for eight years, albeit without particular distinction. True, my heart was not truly invested into my duties, but that doesn't change the fact that I once willingly served a regime as deceitful and morally reprehensible as that under Lowerniel Drakan.

But perhaps my opinions have been influenced by my experiences with our natural prey, humans, who have opened my eyes to some of the the glaring flaws within Morytanian society, or at least within the Sanguinesti region. Just look at the differences between the sister cities of Darkmeyer and Meiyerditch! Our entire society is based on inequality and racism, with humans never rising beyond bottom class. Ironically, though, many vampyres (and werewolves, too) are corrupted humans. True, the most noble of vampyres trace their roots to Vampyrium, but pure vampyres are relatively few in number, living fairly luxuriously in Darkmeyer, blissfully or deliberately ignorant of the utterly appalling affairs just south of them. I cannot speak for the werewolves, but for vampyres, we depend on the humans for survival. So why in the great name of the Stranger from Afar is life so awful for them? Meiyerditch is an absolute disgrace. I have never seen Meiyerditch in its prime, but it was apparently a magnificent city at one point, back when Morytania was called Hallowvale. Since its fall, though… I pity its residents with all of my soul. To think I was once among them… Alas, I've surrendered my human memories with my vampyrization. And yet perhaps I'm lucky to be spared memories of such a deplorable hellhole.

Oh, how I wish to alleviate the suffering, and to share the burden as penance! Alas, I cannot. But while I may not be able to empathize with our prey, but I can certainly feel sorrow for them. I have to imagine that in the early days of Morytania (after the Fall of Hallowvale), when the vampyric population was lower, life was probably less miserable for them. The human population was still a defeated one, but the tithings were likely either less severe or less frequent, or perhaps even both. But because we conquered a population more numerous than us, we were fearful of future revolt, and naturally we wanted to expand our numbers as a precaution. But organic reproduction was too slow, and the Stranger from Afar had long been defeated by Zamorak and forced into hiding, unable to bring more vampyres who wanted to come to Gielinor. Zamorak had little interest in doing so; in fact, he probably would have wanted to see a chaotic human revolt. So since vampyres were often concerned about being overwhelmed, the Vyrewatch was established to keep track of human activities, as well as conduct blood tithes.

The Vyrewatch, at least when I was a member, are highly trained in combat and diplomacy, but this second trait, intended to diffuse tensions with hostile humans before blood gets wasted, is rarely utilized. Most Vyrewatch I've seen immediately threaten punishment, which while effective at keeping us feared, made us hated as well. Lord Drakan is clearly attempting to rule through fear, demanding total subjugation from the humans. He is lucky that most of the population, sans the Myreque and other, more minor minor groups, have had their spirits broken beyond repair. Otherwise, the population would likely test the Vyrewatch far more than it does now. Control through fear alone is a foolish idea. There is no reason to stay subjugated if the population sees an opportunity not to. The Myreque exemplifies this.

Initially, with less severe blood tithes, humans may have had fairly normal lives post-conquest. Over the centuries, however, things only worsened. Darkmeyer and Meiyerditch were often deteriorating from the perpetual storms that obscured the light of Gielinor's sun in our kingdom. Of course, the vampyric residents were given greater priority for living conditions, so the lion's share of care went to us. Eventually, Darkmeyer was given an architectural overhaul, replacing much of the wood (which was becoming increasingly scarce, due to the original forests of Hallowvale being intolerant of the swamps of Morytania) with stone. The population of Meiyerditch was steadily declining, but fleeing the city was actually only a minor cause of the decline, due to the Vyrewatch and Great Vyre Wall (built shortly after Hallowvale's conquest) being able to prevent most attempts. Instead, conditions were becoming so appalling due to centuries of neglect that it was mostly due to preventable deaths such as disease and inadequate shelter. But did Meiyerditch get the same treatment as its sister city? I need not to answer, as only the ignorant and foolish would guess wrongly.

The humans were given barely enough for only the most critical of maintenance; just enough to be more than nothing in theory, but whatever supplies were given to them were of the lowest quality and often ill-suited to their intended purposes. I know little about Construction, but I would wager much that even a bearer of the relevant Cape of Accomplishment would be baffled at how to utilize the shoddy materials. Indeed, I remember once patrolling Sector Four and seeing a crowd scavenge what they could and use the wood for making fires and the stone for projectiles rather than for building. Their targets included animals (for hunting to feed themselves) and occasionally vampyres, at least from the bravest or most foolish. Yes, I was also a target on occasion, though my ability to predict attacks has always served me well in that regard, not to mention that stones are not composed of materials harmful to vampyres. I could never bring myself to retaliate, though, especially since we were supposed to only intervene in quelling greater acts of resistance.

I cannot adequately express my bewilderment that greater concern is not shown for our source of nourishment. Would not the blood of our prey be superior if conditions improved for them? This would allow for a healthier and larger population to draw from. There would be few occasions where tithes were just barely met; a frequent issue in current times. Exceeded quotas used to be compensated regularly, but now they are all but impossible to achieve. As I've mentioned, the tremendous neglect of the humans was a severe factor in this, but even the land itself is a contribution. Morytania is ill-suited to agriculture, so much of the humans' sustenance is imported or hunted. But this is unsustainable. A better solution would be to ease the perpetual storms that have transformed arable Hallowvale to swampy Morytania and to try to transform the land into farmable territory. This would be directly beneficial to them, and indirectly beneficial to us. Surely the vast tracts of swamp that serve little purpose could be put to use eventually.

But perhaps it may be argued that the physical benefits would also plunge us back to when we were concerned about a human revolt. Wouldn't they take advantage of their improved health and numbers and revolt? For some, almost certainly, but could they be blamed, after so many lifetimes of abuse? Yet I harbor doubt over large-scale rebellion. The spirits of these people have long since fractured, and I would wager that they would simply be grateful for any relief from their suffering. If the population becomes appreciative of those governing their lives, then why would they rebel? Instead, perhaps our races could adapt to a new age of peaceful (if perhaps uneasy) coexistence if we actually catered to them for once. We are no longer subject to the merciless nature of a bestial predator-prey relationship. The teachings of the Stranger from Afar allowed our race to rise beyond such a primitive mentality. But how can we claim to be so if we do do not practice it?

Besides the logistical issues that I've mentioned, I must refer once again to The Myreque. Surely they would take advantage of any improvements to attempt strengthening their movement? Once again, I am doubtful. Though I have never personally seen any members of it, and all Vyrewatch know that they wish to liberate their brethren from our rule, I'd imagine that they are mostly fueled by the grievous injustices we have inflicted upon them for far too long. If those were lifted, perhaps they would be more willing to work toward a mutual compromise for both races. Unfortunately, however, I cannot advocate for a full pardon for them, at least not yet. While I'm truly sorry for our race justifying its formation, a full pardon would likely be too much for my vampyric brethren, who under my advice would already have much to eliminate, change, or otherwise adjust to. Besides, I do not believe that it is fair to ask only my own kind to make nothing but sacrifices for our prey, although admittedly I doubt our prey have many more sacrifices to make. Dealing with the Myreque would likely have to wait until our new societies stabilized, and it would almost certainly be a gradual process.

But the Myreque is not the only militant group that Morytania must be concerned about. Misthalin has long been suspicious and hostile towards our kingdom, and even though the Misthalin-Morytania War has ended, if tales from here ever made it across the River Salve, it could attract warriors like the brothers who felled many of our ancestors in a bygone era. Since we cannot retaliate by crossing into Misthalin, such people could take their sweet time to prepare for an invasion, and we would be unable to disrupt it. Ultimately, we seem to be at the mercy of Misthalin's decision of whether or not to conduct military conflict. We would always be on the defensive, and only when driving back enemies on our own soil could we be offensive. But ultimately, it would be preferable to prevent such matters from ever happening in the first place, and continuing our barbaric practices against the race that dominates our rival kingdom to the west is not going to discourage it.

I am by no means a leader, and I cannot plan for the trivial details that govern the success of a society. Therefore, I cannot be certain if my ideas would even work, but ultimately we must do something. Even as a blind follower of Vyrewatch orders I could sense instabilities in Morytania. There was some resentment in the ranks that I've been led to believe was installed through Lord Drakan's sister, Vanescula. It's no secret that she believes in change like I do, though as I've developed my own ideas independently, our philosophies may differ. It is all but impossible that I've inspired her, being a fairly recent and obscure Vyrewatch, but one never knows. Still, I would thoroughly enjoy discussing such matters with her over a chalice or two of blood. Such a meeting could bring my dreams to any degree of legitimacy in the Drakan regime. Still, wariness would pervade then, as she is very unpredictable and clearly has something in mind. I know not if her brothers are aware of this, being preoccupied, but I'm sure she has plans in mind that she intends to act on. Whatever they are, I can only hope that they serve a beneficial purpose for all.

Lord Drakan also seems incredibly unwilling to change Morytania's long-established way of life, so while he's in power, I'd imagine the chances of either of our plans for change would be approximately zero. Might Vanescula be planning a coup? Though I desire progression, I do not know if I would want to be associated with one. Desertion from the Vyrewatch already put me in a precarious position, and writing this, if ever it is interpreted as treason (which I beg the reader not to believe, as I only have the stability of my society in mind) only worsens it. In hindsight I should not have deserted, as my inability to cope with my taks emotionally is no justification, but I have no traitorous intent anywhere within me. Association with a coup, however, would make it all but impossible to escape an unfortunate labelling. Facilitating any significant modifications to Morytania puts me in jeopardy of being charged with treason. I must confess that I feel trapped.

I am sure that eventually I will find exactly where I must be in life, but until then, it pains me to reflect on my examinations of Morytania. I want to see such radical change, but I simply see no way to actually implement them. Ultimately my greatest fear is to be forgotten, but is a potentially infamous legacy a superior alternative? I, in a yet another moment of weakness and indecision, believe that for now I shall merely release these writings and let another decide for me. I apologize to both races. To the vampyres, I'm sorry that I was a failed product of current society, and to the humans, I'm sorry that I cannot bring myself to vigorously pursue what I preach. If my name should fall into the obscurity of history's compost bin, at least let it be known that I, Lady Isoh of Morytania, had only good intentions for all.


End file.
